In 2001 amid a shocking Royal bloodbath, Nepal gained a new, and what now appears to be their final, King. King Gyanendra and Queen Komal have ruled over a disturbing time in Nepal. The have had continual political unrest, which has escalted greatly since the King's dismissal of the representative government from 2005-2006.

As life in Nepal changes, so will the form of listings in our coin and banknote catalogs. The political distinction will move from Kingdom under Shah Dynasty to a Republic of the people. The banknotes and coins for daily circulation will surely be redesigned with legends reflecting their new governmental structure and images not of the Royals, but of prominent buildings, floral and fauna. I do hope that heritage and tradition is not left out entirely though. It would be a shame not to see Buddha on Nepalese gold coins!

Speaking of change, I should mention that friend and fellow blogger Colin Bruce has been busy at work this week updating the 17th Century listings for Nepal. Colin is working from an write-up done by long time contributor Klaus Bronny and has supplemented this with current market information obtained through conversations with dealer Steve Album. Much of the work is now complete and can be viewed on NumisMaster, even though the printed and bound 4th edition of the Standard Catalog of World Coins 1601-1700 will not be available until later this year. Why wait? Check it out at NumisMaster now.

Just as the revsion of our 17th Century Nepal listings went smoothly, I hope this is a time of peaceful rebuilding for the Nepalese people. They have had a terrible few years of revolt and the populace deserves a chance to flourish again.

About the AuthorTom Michael has been Krause Publications primary market analyst on more than 80 world and United States coin catalogs produced over the last 20 years. He came to KP in 1987 with a bachelor of arts degree in history, a master of arts degree in economics and a history of coin collecting stretching back to the 1960s. He began collecting world coins as a child by asking friends and relatives to bring coins back from overseas trips, visiting flea markets and having his mother watch for foreign coins in her register at the local grocery store. Today he works with a dedicated base of over 200 contributors to provide accurate market values for the five-volume Standard Catalog of World Coins series, as well as many specialty catalogs, including Coins & Currency of the Middle East and the fifth edition of Unusual World Coins.